Penn State's Jermaine Marshall (11) announced Wednesday he would forego his senior season, instead opting to try and play professional to help provide for his son. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)AP Photo/Andy Manis

The soon-to-be former State guard and Red Land High product
believes leaving the school once he graduates this summer is the best plan to
provide for his son and girlfriend, and he's relied on some former Lions
already participating in the international game for insight into his decision, too.

"My journey at Penn State has been a long one, and I love
everything about Penn State. I love my coaches, teammates, and the whole Penn
State family from top to bottom," Marshall said during a conference call with
reporters Wednesday.

"I have not talked to an agent – that would be illegal – but
I have talked to some other guys playing right now, like [former Penn State forward] Jeff Brooks and [former Penn State guard] Taylor
Battle.

"They say they enjoy it, and Jeff is in the play-offs right
now [with Pallacanestro Cantu of the Italian Serie A league], so I am able to talk to him on a day-to-day basis, and he's filling me in,"
Marshall continued. "With both of these guys, I have a relationship for life,
and it's the same thing with my teammates now."

Nittany Lions head coach Patrick Chambers said Marshall
first came to him with the idea of leaving before his senior season at the end
of April, and the coach said "it didn't really seem real." Chambers said the
situation would change weekly, with it seeming some weeks that Marshall would
stay, and others that he would leave.

Yet, between then and now, Chambers said he spoke to "at
least" four agents and also former players to get their impressions, ideas, and
opinions on Marshall, and passed it all along to his pupil. Chambers said he
felt that doing so is "a part of my job."

"We expressed how much he wanted to stay, but ultimately, I
understand why he's making the decision," Chambers said. "I tried to give him
the pros and cons of staying, and the pros and cons of going to give him the
most information I could give him.

"As a head coach, it's my duty to try and help him in every
way possible, and to give him as much factual information as possible."

Chambers said he and his staff will evaluate the current
list of available transfer players the program could bring in, though he added they were already doing that before Marshall's decision. With two scholarships
available for the 2013-2014 season, State could add a fifth-year or transfer
player during the offseason.

Both Chambers and Marshall addressed the idea of whether the 15 point per game player in 2012 would stay if collegiate players were paid to play, and both responded in favorable tones. Marshall currently receives a Pell Grant for players with children, Chambers said, but the head coach went on to say he has re-thought, at least partially, his views on whether players should be paid to play.

"I'm not sure where I stand on that. A year ago, I thought we should pay these
kids, and maybe today I still have that feeling, but I'm not so sure," Chambers explained.

"They are
given a lot of things. They have the best strength coaches, a nutirisonist and trainer available 24/7, assistant coaches during the proper periods for two hours a week; there's a lot these kids do
get that we don't really magnify, that need to be magnified.

"But to get a haircut, to get groceries, to get the necessities of life, you know, I'd be a proponent of that," he continued. "But it would really depend on how they spend that money."

Either way, Marshall is now likely soon off to a foreign land to continue his
basketball career. Before that, though, he'll finish out his Penn State degree, which amounts
to a single class and an internship he's currently in the process of
completing, too.

If basketball doesn't work out, Marshall said he will pursue
a career in child care.

"That's any guys plan to want to reach the highest level you
can. That's the goal," he said. "If that doesn't work out, I want to work with
kids. I want to do that even during the whole process of me playing basketball.

"I do that during the summertime with camps here and there,
and that's what I want to do professionally. Everything is in God's hands."